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Jade’s frown deepened. “I’m Jade. I’m…” she hesitated. How was she going to introduce herself to Sabrina? As my girlfriend? We hadn’t finalized any of that. I’d told her how I felt, but I would talk to her about it all this weekend.
“I’m Ben’s nanny,” she finally said meekly.
“Oh, good. You have someone to look after him. At least it seems like you have things down pat for the most part. That should look okay in court, I imagine. You have something going for you, Aaron.” Sabrina turned to Jade. “I’m Ben’s mother.”
Jade paled. “What?” She looked at me with questions in her eyes.
“I’ll talk to you later, Jade,” I said curtly. “I’m in the middle of something.”
Jade swallowed hard. I saw her warring emotions on her face––the confusion about what Sabrina was doing here, the shock.
“I really need to talk to you,” Jade said again.
I shook my head, trying to balance the two parts of my life. How was it possible that the past and the present collided like this?
“If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” I said to Sabrina and Mr. Moses.
Sabrina’s eyes flashed at me. “We have an appointment, Aaron. Howard is on the clock.”
“I won’t be a minute,” I said sharply, and gestured for Jade to walk to the door. I opened it for her, and when we stepped out, I sent my secretary to fetch two cups of coffee from the kitchen.
When we were alone, I turned to Jade.
“What’s going on, Aaron?” she asked me.
“It’s complicated.”
“I thought she wasn’t in your life.”
“She’s not.”
Jade shook her head. “I don’t know what to make of this, but I need to talk to you about Hannah.”
I frowned. “Who’s Hannah?”
“My boss,” Jade said. “The woman who owns the company I work for.”
“Oh, as a nanny,” I said.
Jade shook her head and looked down at her hands folded in her lap. “That’s the thing. I’m not a nanny.”
I frowned, shaking my head. “I don’t understand.”
She took a deep breath. “I wasn’t honest with you. When I came to see you, it was because the nanny I arranged fell through, and I couldn’t figure out a way to get you someone else. I went instead. I’m not really a nanny, and––”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” I asked.
“I tried, but––”
“You tried? What does that even mean?” Before Jade could answer, I shook my head. “I don’t have time to deal with this right now.”
“I’m not allowed to work for you anymore. Hannah is going to call you to tell you that. I’ll still pick Ben up later, but I have to––”
“I’ll pick Ben up,” I said, cutting her off.
“What?”
“You don’t have to worry about it. Sabrina will want to see him and––” I cut myself off. I didn’t have time to explain. Just saying the words made me feel like I was going to throw up. “Go home, Jade. I’ll call you after all this blows over.”
